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Security Council Distr.: General 27 June 2019

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Security Council Distr.: General 27 June 2019 United Nations S/2019/530 Security Council Distr.: General 27 June 2019 Original: English United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia Report of the Secretary-General I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2435 (2018), by which the Council renewed the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, and resolution 2366 (2017), in which it requested the Secretary- General to report on the activities of the Mission every 90 days. The report covers the period from 27 March to 26 June 2019. II. Major developments 2. The reporting period was marked by positive developments in some areas of peace implementation, such as reintegration. But security concerns persisted and polarization and division around the peace process continued, in particular, over the transitional justice pillar. In April and May, Congress held contentious debates on the six objections to the statutory law of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace lodged in March by President Iván Duque Márquez. Votes in the Senate were followed by procedural debates over whether an absolute majority had been reached in the Senate, as was the case in the Chamber of Representatives, in order to overrule the objections. The matter was referred to the Constitutional Court which, on 29 May, ruled that both chambers had reached the required threshold. President Duque enacted the measure into law on 6 June. 3. Congress debated two constitutional reforms proposed by the Government, which it stated were intended to address failings of the current peace agreement but would only apply to future agreements. One proposal would bar the crimes of kidnapping and drug trafficking from being considered as political crimes or as activities linked to them. The measure proposed by the Government includes a provision stating that it would not affect the signatories of current peace agreements. The second proposed reform would have the effect of ensuring that all sexual crimes against children would be tried in the regular justice system. This measure, as proposed by the Government and approved in the first round of consideration, does not include a provision explicitly stating its non-retroactivity. Various parties maintain that this explicit provision should be included at the second reading to avoid a risk of having a negative impact on the current peace process. 19-10172 (E) 280619 *1910172* S/2019/530 4. The Government’s four-year national development plan was approved on 3 May, reflecting lengthy negotiations with Congress. The plan includes a “road map for stabilization” that identifies peace-related activities within a broader set of public investments in regions affected by the conflict. The plan also gives the Government the authority to continue to pay basic monthly allowances to former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP) participating in the reintegration process and to facilitate access to land for their income-generating activities. Amendments were adopted to strengthen accountability and oversight, including through the inclusion of a multi-year investment plan for peace, yearly targets and reporting requirements on peace-related actions. 5. The judicial process involving Seuxis Paucias Hernández Solarte, also known as Jesús Santrich, accused of drug trafficking and requested for extradition, continued to unfold, deepening divisions around the peace process. On 15 May, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace ruled that it had not been provided with enough evidence to establish that the criminal conduct attributed to Mr. Santrich had occurred after the signing of the peace agreement and it applied the non-extradition guarantee. The Special Jurisdiction ordered his release and stated that the alleged conduct should be investigated in Colombia. This ruling was appealed by the Inspector General on 24 May. The decision on the appeal is still pending. 6. Following his release from prison on 17 May, Mr. Santrich was immediately re-arrested by the Office of the Attorney General, which stated that it had received new evidence in the case against him. On 28 May, the Council of State upheld Mr. Santrich’s status as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives. The Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over members of Congress, took over the investigation and ordered his release on 29 May. The Investigative Chamber of the Supreme Court is reviewing the case, including a request from the Office of the Inspector General that Mr. Santrich be detained during the investigation. Mr. Santrich was sworn in to the Chamber of Representatives on 11 June, further fuelling controversy around the peace process between critics who argued against his release from prison and stated that his presence in Congress was equivalent to impunity, and others who argued for respecting due process and awaiting the outcome of the judicial proceedings. 7. In April, an array of demonstrations were held in more than 20 departments to protest against violence against social leaders and to call for a full implementation of the peace agreement, including a demonstration by an estimated 3,000 social and community leaders who travelled to Bogota to demand the implementation of concrete measures for the collective protection of communities. In addition, a large social protest was held over several weeks in Cauca Department. As a result of its dialogue with protest movements, the Government agreed to create a special protocol for the protection of indigenous peoples and to create an ethnic subcommission of the National Commission on Security Guarantees, which was established on 11 June. 8. With regional and local elections approaching (they are scheduled for October), the non-governmental Electoral Observation Mission warned in a report dated 27 May that acts of intimidation and violence against local leaders might increase in the coming months, in particular in seven high-risk departments, and noted that incidents already reported against potential candidates were 50 per cent higher than in the equivalent period before the previous local elections, in 2015. A pact for non-violence, transparency and pluralism in the elections, launched by the National Peace Council, the Catholic Church and the Electoral Observation Mission, was presented to the Ministry of the Interior. 9. The joint bodies established for the implementation of the peace agreement continued to meet to a varying degree. The National Reintegration Council met 2/18 19-10172 S/2019/530 regularly. The Commission for the Follow-up, Promotion and Verification of the Implementation of the Final Agreement did not show tangible results or a clear strategic agenda. The National Commission on Security Guarantees only held regional and thematic sessions. A. Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition 10. The statutory law of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, enacted in June, was the last missing piece of the legal framework for the restorative model of transitional justice in Colombia. The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia issued a statement in which it applauded this step, noting that it would help to outline more clearly the rights of victims and the legal guarantees of all those under the authority of the Special Jurisdiction, including former FARC-EP members and members of the armed forces and national police. The Special Jurisdiction welcomed the adoption of the measure as a positive development that provided the tribunal with a solid legal framework to work independently and autonomously. 11. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace continued to make progress on fulfilling its responsibilities. It reviewed more than 58 petitions for guarantees of non-extradition, of which 43 were rejected, including requests from two individuals arrested with Mr. Santrich in April 2018. During the reporting period, 40 former FARC-EP members and 80 individuals from the armed forces provided voluntary statements related to seven cases identified as emblematic of the 60-year-long armed conflict. For all individuals under the authority of the Special Jurisdiction, appearing at hearings for these cases is a legal obligation with respect to the court and a moral obligation with respect to victims. 12. In April, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace concluded that former FARC-EP commander Hernán Darío Velásquez Saldarriaga, also known as El Paisa, had failed to appear at such hearings or to justify his absences and had failed to meet other obligations, and it therefore reinstated an arrest warrant against him and revoked his basic monthly payment and access to a reduced or restorative sentence. In May, the Special Jurisdiction began to review a case of non-compliance by two other former FARC-EP commanders, Luciano Marín Arango, also known as Iván Márquez, and José Manuel Sierra, also known as Zarco Andinever. In June, the Special Jurisdiction opened a similar investigation into Henry Castellanos Garzón, also known as Romaña. 13. Civil society organizations presented reports to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace on cases of sexual violence in eight departments, attacks against members of Afro-Colombian communities in five departments, cases of extrajudicial killings occurred during the conflict and attributed to members of the armed forces and patterns of persecution of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community. 14. The Truth Commission began on 11 June the first of a
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